My company wants to produce LED lamps. In order to do that I searched a lot for LED drivers. They are lots of LED driver circuits in the world and IEEE papers or patents.
I want to chose between them but I can't find the best commercial LED driver for different uses such as indoor, outdoor etc.
Can you tell me, for example, what circuits are used by companies that produce LED lamps?
Could anyone help me with this?
Best Answer
I'm (arguably) an international expert in this area. (Really, maybe :-)).
One reason there are so many drivers is that applications vary widely and, also, the market is large and potentially lucrative. The answer will vary based on many parameters. I'll list a few, and if you can refine the question I and others can refine the answer.
What country you are in can influence the answer - you may wish to comment to others where you are based.
Mains powered, battery powered, solar powered, other ... - some mix ...?
Maximum power level, minimum power level, ...
How important is efficiency to you? This may vary depending on whether products are mains or battery powered.
How cost sensitive are your products? What market sectors are you selling in?
How important is product quality, longevity of LED, longevity of product.
Patents are important in the LED area and less so in the IC area. LED patents are a major battle-field with lots of money being spent on extensive litigation. BUT, generally patents are irrelevant to you from an application point of view. Buy IC's and LEDs that either do not have patent issues or for which any possible risk is guaranteed by the manufacturer. LEDs that do not have extensive patent cover are almost certainly not worth buying.
Are you building whole lamps or integrating electronics into other people's housings or ?
What volumes do you envisage? Are your markets domestic (own country) or international?
Obviously some of these questions may not be ones you want to answer openly in public. Some may seem irrelevant to the question - but think all are relevant. How much so will vary in some cases depending on other factors.